Silk Stocking neighborhood nears historic designation

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Dorothy Ruoff and Mary Lou Perkins spent the last seven yearsseeking recognition for their Chandler neighborhood's rich history.Now the downtown Silk Stocking subdivision is one step closer tobeing on the National Register of Historic Places.
The City Council approved a $10,000 grant Thursday night that willhire a consultant for the registry application process. Ruoff andPerkins say inclusion on the national list will raise propertyvalues and attract buyers interested in restoring historic homes.It also would make the Silk Stocking district Chandler's firstneighborhood to get an official historic label.
Since the women started promoting the neighborhood, many of thehomes have changed hands and new owners are restoring them, Ruoffsaid. A recent city grant provided paint and landscape materialsfor several properties.
The two want people to know that many of the houses were built morethan 85 years ago and the still-concrete Washington Street wasChandler's first paved road. The neighborhood's name came from thehomes' 1920s selling prices: $3,000 to $4,000. "People would say ifyou could afford a $3,000 house, you could afford to buy your wifesilk stockings," Ruoff said.
Unlike Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Chandler has no historicpreservation ordinance to protect older buildings from demolition.Placement on the national historic registry doesn't offer thatprotection, but it raises public awareness, usually increasesproperty values and can help individual property owners obtain taxbreaks, said Jean Reynolds, Chandler public history coordinator.
Reynolds said inclusion of the Silk Stocking neighborhood on thenational registry would be good for Chandler, and she is doingresearch to help the application process. "Anyone who used to livein the area or who has old photos, please contact me," Reynoldssaid. Her phone number is 480-782-2751. "We are trying to documenteach house, especially those on Washington and Colorado streets,"she said.
Reynolds has a photo of Ruoff's house with young Dorothy sitting onthe front steps in the 1940s. "I grew up in this house, and it's onChandler's first paved street," Ruoff, 72, said of thebungalow-style home built in 1921 and purchased by her lateparents, Joseph and Alice Woods, in 1937.
The Woods operated Chandler's first movie theater, the Rowena, from1931 to 1955 in the building that now houses DiSciacca Glass at 81W. Boston St.